COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Annual Monitoring Report on the implementation of the Structural Reform Support Programme 2018
Date: 2019-12-17
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU Member State, EU aid, EU financing, EU programme, administrative reform, economic convergence, economic reform, institutional reform, structural adjustment, sustainable development

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 17.12.2019  SWD(2019) 442 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT   Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Annual Monitoring Report on the implementation of the Structural Reform Support Programme 2018 {COM(2019) 641 final}  
 
 
Table of Contents 

GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 

1. 

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 3 

2. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ............................................................................................................ 4 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

2.5. 

Budget of the Programme ...................................................................................................................... 4 

Objectives and scope of the Programme................................................................................................ 4 

European Added Value .......................................................................................................................... 5 

Implementation of the Programme and forms of support ...................................................................... 6 

Data collection ....................................................................................................................................... 6 

3. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF SUPPORT MEASURES FUNDED BY SRSP 2018 BUDGET ................... 6 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 6 

Requests for support submitted by the Member States .......................................................................... 7 

Application of the assessment criteria ................................................................................................. 10 

3.3.1. 

Step 1 – screening and analysis of the requests for support ........................................................ 11 

3.3.2. 

Step 2 – prioritisation of the requests for support ....................................................................... 14 

3.4. 

3.5. 

3.6. 

3.7. 

Selection of requests ............................................................................................................................ 14 

Cooperation and Support Plans concluded .......................................................................................... 17 

Reform partners and special measures................................................................................................. 18 

Implementation of support measures ................................................................................................... 18 

4. 

PROGRESS IN RELATION TO PROGRAMME'S OBJECTIVES .................................................... 27 

4.1. 

4.2. 

4.3. 

4.4. 

Progress in achieving the general objective ......................................................................................... 29 

Progress in achieving the specific objectives ...................................................................................... 31 

Expected outcomes of the SRSP activities .......................................................................................... 31 

European Added Value ........................................................................................................................ 32 

5.  DELIVERED SUPPORT MEASURES UNDER THE PROGRAMME ............................................... 34 

6.  CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 39 

ANNEX I ............................................................................................................................................................... 40 

ANNEX II  ............................................................................................................................................................ 40 

ANNEX III ............................................................................................................................................................ 45 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GLOSSARY 

Term or acronym 

Meaning or definition 

AMI 

CMU 

CSP 

CSR 

EBRD 

EFSI 

ESIF 

EU 

PPP 

SMEs 

SRSP  

SRSS 

TAIEX 

Appel à manifestation d'intérêt (call for expressions of 
interest) 

capital markets union 

cooperation and support plan 

Country-Specific Recommendations 

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 

European Fund for Strategic Investments 

European Structural and Investment Funds  

European Union 

public private partnerships 

small and medium-sized enterprises 

Structural Reform Support Programme 

Structural Reform Support Service 

Technical Assistance and Information Exchange 

2 

 
 
 
 
1.  INTRODUCTION 

Structural  reforms  are crucial if  we  are to  modernise our  economies,  encourage investment, 
create jobs and raise living standards. Overall successful implementation of reforms requires 
efficient  and effective public administration, since this  affects  the performance of all public 
policy domains, including reform efforts. For this reason, adequate administrative capacity (in 
terms  of  competences,  mobility,  incentives,  changes  to  work  processes,  etc.)  is  crucial  for 
well-functioning economies and to underpin the success of structural reforms. 

The  Structural  Reform  Support  Programme  (SRSP),  established  in  May  2017,  covers  the 
2017- 2020 period1. Its objective is to strengthen the Member States’ capacity to prepare and 
implement growth-enhancing reforms, including by providing assistance for the efficient and 
effective use of Union funds. The final decisions on the design, structure and implementation 
of reforms lie with the Member States, however. 
Support from the SRSP is available to all EU Member  States upon request2, requires no co-
financing  and  involves  a  relatively  small  administrative  burden  for  Member  States.  It  is 
managed by the Commission’s Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS). 

The  Commission  monitors  how  support  measures  financed  by  the  programme  are 
implemented  and    provides  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  with  an  annual 
monitoring report3 for each year of implementation.  

Member  States  wishing  to  receive  support  under  the  SRSP  can  submit  a  request  by  31 
October  of  each  calendar  year4.  This  report  provides  an  overview  of  the  implementation  of 
measures selected for funding under the 2018 SRSP round. In addition, section 5 of the report 
(progress in relation to the programme’s objectives) describes the progress of some measures 
selected  for  financing  under  the  2017  SRSP  round  and  covered  by  the  previous  annual 
monitoring report for the 2017 SRSP. 

1 Under Regulation (EU) 2017/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ L 129, 19.5.2017, p. 1–16, as amended 
by Regulation (EU) 2018/1671, OJ L 284, 12.11.2018, p. 3–5 (the SRSP Regulation). 

2 Article 7 of the SRSP Regulation. 

3 In accordance with Article 16 of the SRSP Regulation. 

4 In accordance with Article 7 of the SRSP Regulation. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
[…] 

Article 16 of the SRSP Regulation  
Monitoring and evaluation 

2. The Commission shall provide the European Parliament and the Council with an annual 
monitoring  report  on  the  implementation  of  the  Programme.  That  report  shall  include 
information on: 

a) 
b) 

c) 
d) 
e) 
f) 

requests for support submitted by Member States, referred to in Article 7(1); 
analyses  of  the  application  of  the  criteria,  referred  to  in  Article  7(2),  used  to 
analyse the requests for support submitted by Member States; 
cooperation and support plans, referred to in Article 7(2); 
participation of reform partners, referred to in Article 9; 
special measures adopted, referred to in Article 13(6); and 
implementation of support measures5. 

2.  BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

2.1.  Budget of the programme 

The  budget  for  the  implementation  of  the  Programme  over  the  2017-2020  period  is  €222.8 
million  (following  the  amendment  to  the  original  SRSP  Regulation)6.  The  budget  available 
for 2018 was €30.5 million7. 

In addition to the SRSP budget, Article 11 of the SRSP Regulation and Article 25 and 59 of 
Regulation  (EU)  No  1303/2013  (the  Common  Provisions  Regulation)  also  enable  the 
programme  to  be  financed  through  additional  voluntary  contributions  from  Member  States, 
using resources provided for technical assistance at the initiative of the Member States under 
the  European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESI  Funds)8.  In  2018,  two  Member  States, 
Greece and Bulgaria, made such voluntary contributions. These followed a request by Greece 
on  30  January  2018  to  transfer  €20  million  from  its  technical  assistance  operational 
programme  and  from  Bulgaria  on  31  January  2018  to  transfer  €1.5  million  from  the  ‘good 
governance’  operational  programme.  The  overall  budget  for  2018  (including  both  the 
dedicated SRSP 2018 budget and the transferred resources) thus amounted to €52 million. 

2.2.  Objectives and scope of the programme 

5 Point (f) of Article 16 was added by Regulation (EU) 2018/1671, amending Regulation (EU) 2017/825 (see below). 

6 On 6 December 2017, the Commission proposed amending the SRSP Regulation to increase the budget of the programme 
by €80 million and add support for euro-area membership to the goals to which the programme contributes. Regulation (EU) 
2018/1671  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  October  2018  amending  Regulation  (EU)  2017/825 
increasing the financial envelope of the Structural Reform Support Programme and adapting its general objective entered into 
force on 13 November 2018 (OJ L 284, 12.11.2018, p. 3–5).  

7 Excluding support expenditure. 

8  A  Member  State  wishing  to  contribute  additional  funds  to  the  SRSP  under  Article  11  should  submit  a  formal  letter 
requesting to transfer technical assistance funds to the SRSP. After the request for transfer of funds is approved, the Member 
State concerned can submit requests for support under Article 11 of the SRSP Regulation. The Commission will assess and 
approve these requests in accordance with the criteria and principles laid down in the SRSP Regulation. The support provided 
to the Member State under Article 11 of the SRSP Regulation will be mentioned in a separate annex to the cooperation and 
support plan concluded with that Member State. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
The  general  objective  of  the  SRSP  is  to  contribute  to  institutional,  administrative  and 
growth-sustaining  structural  reforms  in  the  Member  States9.  This  is  achieved  by  providing 
support  to  national  authorities  with  the  aim  of  reforming  and  strengthening  institutions, 
governance, public administration, and economic and social sectors in response to economic 
and social challenges.  

The  overarching  goal  is  to  enhance  cohesion,  competitiveness,  productivity,  sustainable 
growth,  job  creation,  and  investment,  in  particular  in  the  context  of  economic  governance 
processes, including through assistance for the efficient, effective and transparent use of the 
Union funds10. 
The specific objectives of the programme11 are to:  

a)  support the intiatitives of Member States’ national authorities to design their reforms 

according to their priorities;  

b)  enhance the national authorities’ capacity to formulate, develop and implement reform 

policies and strategies and pursue an integrated approach; 

c)  support  the  efforts  of  national  authorities  to  define  and  implement  appropriate 

processes and methodologies; and 

d)  assist the national authorities in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of human 

resources management. 

The  support  therefore  covers  all  stages  of  reform,  from  inception  to  implementation  and 
evaluation of results. 

Support  can  be  provided  for  reforms  which  fall  under  the  following  main  broad  policy 
areas12:  

a)  revenue administration and public financial management; 
b)  governance and public administration; 
c)  growth and business environment (including energy and climate action); 
d)  labour market, education, health and social issues; and  
e)  financial sector and access to finance. 

2.3.  European added value 

The  Commission  should  ensure  that  actions  and  activities  selected  for  funding  are  likely  to 
produce results that show a clear European added value13. 

European added value is ensured in particular by:  

9 In accordance with Article 4 of the SRSP Regulation. 

10  The  general  objective  of  the  programme  was  amended  by  Regulation  No  2018/1671,  which  entered  into  force  on  13 
November 2018. However, submission of requests for support under the 2018 SRSP round took place before the amendment 
entered into force. How the amended general objective of the programme has been achieved will therefore be covered in the 
next  annual  monitoring  report  (since  it  applies  to  requests  for  support  submitted  for  funding  under  the  SRSP 2019  annual 
budget).  

11 In accordance with Article 5 of the SRSP Regulation. 

12 For the full list, please refer to Article 5(2) of the SRSP Regulation. 

13 In accordance with Article 3 of the SRSP Regulation. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
a)  the  development  and  implementation  of  solutions  that  address  local,  regional  or 
national challenges that have an impact on cross-border or Union-wide challenges, and 
which may also contribute to social, economic and territorial cohesion;  

b)  their  complementarity  and  synergy  with  other  Union  programmes  and  policies  at 

regional, national, Union and international level, as appropriate; 

c)  their  contribution  to  the  consistent  and  coherent  implementation  of  Union  law  and 

policies, as well as the promotion of European values, including solidarity;  

d)  their contribution to the sharing of good practices, also with a view to increasing the 
visibility  of  the  reform  programmes,  and  to  building  a  Union-wide  platform  and 
network of expertise; and  

e)  the  promotion  of  mutual  trust  between  beneficiary  Member  States  and  the 

Commission and of cooperation among Member States. 

2.4. 

Implementation of the programme and forms of support  

The support provided under the SRSP is tailored to the country’s needs. Experts accompany 
national  authorities  throughout  different  stages  of  the  reform  process  (scoping,  prioritising, 
designing,  road  mapping,  implementing,  evaluating).  The  support  depends  on  the  nature  of 
the  reform,  the  urgency  of  action,  the  resources  available  and  the  obligations  deriving  from 
the EU Financial Regulation.   
In concrete terms, the technical support can take the form of14: 

 

long-term  or  short-term  presence  of  experts,  and  cooperation  on  the  ground  with 
the national authorities throughout the reform process or at certain stages; 

  actions  to  help  address  specific  needs  –  diagnostic  analyses,  recommendations  on 
how to address the situation, a strategy, draft of a new law/act or modification of an 
existing one; proposals for (new) working and organisational procedures; and/or  
  wider  actions  that  increase  administrative  capacity  –  seminars,  training,  working 
visits,  development  of  methodologies,  collection  of  data,  establishment  of 
benchmarks, etc.  

2.5.  Data collection  

All  data  on  the  implementation  of  the  SRSP  is  stored  by  the  European  Commission  in  an 
internal  IT  tool  managed  by  the  SRSS.  The  tool  facilitates  monitoring  and  reporting  on  the 
implementation of support projects managed by the SRSS. It has provided data for this report. 

3.  IMPLEMENTATION  OF  SUPPORT  MEASURES  FUNDED  BY  THE  SRSP  2018 

BUDGET 

3.1. 

Introduction  

2018 was the second year of activities under the SRSP15. As indicated previously, the budget 
for support measures in 2018 amounted to €30.5 million, available to all EU Member States. 

14 In accordance with Article 6 of the SRSP Regulation. 

15  Regulation  (EU)  2017/825  of  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  of  17  May  2017  on  the  establishment  of  the 
Structural Reform Support Programme for the period 2017 to 2020 entered into force on 20 May 2017. 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
An  additional  €21.5  million  transferred  by  Greece  and  Bulgaria  were  used  exclusively  for 
these  countries  (corresponding  to  the  amount  of  their  contribution).  On  7  March  2018,  the 
Commission adopted the second annual work programme for the SRSP16, setting out priorities 
for the  year, objectives, expected results and outlined actions to be implemented throughout 
2018.  The  annual  work  programme  for  2018  was  sent  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council  on  4  May  201817.  The  focus  of  this  report  is  the  support  measures  selected  for 
funding  in  2018,  and  it  also  covers  the  implementation  of  support  measures  selected  in 
201718. 

3.2.  Requests for support submitted by the Member States 

Member States were invited to  submit their requests for support by  31 October 201719, and 
provide information on the following elements:  

a)  problem/need to be addressed by the requested support measures;  
b)  the breadth of the problems identified (impact on other areas in the economy);  
c)  and depth of the problems identified (severity);  
d)  the urgency of the request for support;  
e)  relevant socio-economic indicators to be taken into consideration when analysing the 

request, the indicative duration and estimated cost;  

f)  expected results/use of the results of the support measures requested;  
g)  information  on  the  administrative  capacity  of  the  Member  State  to  implement  the 

results of the support measures and potential providers. 

In their request for support, Member States also identified the relevant circumstances20 under 
which they were submitting the requests:  

a)  the implementation of reforms undertaken by Member States at their own initiative, in 

particular to achieve sustainable economic growth and job creation;  

b)  the  implementation  of  economic  adjustment  programmes  (for  Member  States  that 

receive Union financial assistance); and  

c)  the  implementation  of  growth-sustaining  reforms  in  the  context  of  economic 
in  particular  of  European  Semester  country-specific 

governance  processes, 
recommendations, or of actions related to the implementation of Union law.  

The  requests  for  support  from  interested  Member  States  were  submitted  centrally  by 
designated  coordinating  authorities21,  i.e.  authorities  responsible  for  submitting  requests  on 
behalf of a Member State.  

Each  coordinating  authority  was  invited  to  prioritise  requests  for  its  Member  State.  The 
requests  for  support  could  come  from  the  national  authorities  of  the  Member  States,  i.e. 
authorities at central, regional or local level, or independent authorities. 

16 Commission Implementing Decision on the adoption of the work programme for 2018 and on the financing of Structural 
Reform Support Programme, 2018, C(2018) 1358 final. 

17 In line with Article 13(5) of the SRSP Regulation. 

18 The implementation period covered by thise report (of the support measures selected for  funding in 2018) is 31 August 
2017 - 31 November 2019. 

19 In line with Article 7(1) of the SRSP Regulation. 

20 In accordance with Article 7(3) of the SRSP Regulation. 

21  The  role  of  the  coordinating  authorities  is  defined  in  section  18.2  of  the  cooperation  and  support  plans  signed  with  all 
Member States benefiting from the programme. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Once  the  requests  for  support  were  selected,  the  Commission  then  concluded  a  cooperation 
and  support  plan  with  the  coordinating  authority  of  each  beneficiary  Member  State  (see 
section 3.5). 

Coordinating authorities 

To ensure proper coordination and efficient communication between the Commission and the 
Member States, Member States designate a coordinating authority to act as the interlocutor of 
the SRSS for the overall implementation of the country’s cooperation and support plan. The 
coordinating authorities are responsible at national level for coordinating and prioritising the 
requests  for  support  submitted  by  the  Member  State,  and  for  coordinating  the  effective 
implementation  of  the  measures  envisaged  and  the  achievement  of  the  objectives  set  out  in 
their cooperation and support plan. The coordinating  authority is  also  encouraged to  initiate 
corrective actions if needed. 

For  the  2018  selection  round,  444  requests  for  support  were  submitted  by  24  Member 
States for an estimated amount22 that was 5 times the available 2018 SRSP budget (€152 
million;  the  budget  is  €30.5  million).  The  chart  below  shows  the  number  of  requests 
submitted per Member State, and a comparison with the previous round. 

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

SRSP 2017

15 19 16
SRSP 2018 12 11 12 53 19

AT BE BG CY CZ DE EE EL ES FI FR HR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT PL PT RO SE SI SK
24 22
0
0

12 18 18

11 18

34

32

22

0

0

5

0

0

0

0

1

4

0

1

10 14 30

1

0

40

6

8

15 21

1

28 19 43 12 60

1

12 15

Figure 1: Number of requests submitted for funding under the SRSP 2017 and 2018 rounds, per Member State 

More Member States participated in the Programme in 2018 than under the 2017 SRSP, and 
the total number of requests was higher. 
Greece submitted 48 requests23 (for €20 million) and Bulgaria submitted 4 requests (for €1.5 
million) for financing under the respective amounts transferred voluntarily to the SRSP by the 
two countries under Article 11 of the SRSP Regulation.   

The distribution of requests across the main broad policy areas was as follows: 

22 As estimated by the Member States. 

23 Number of requests submitted by 31 October 2019. 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Figure 2: Number of requests submitted by Member States under the 2018 SRSP – split per main broad policy area 
(in percentages) 

By  comparison,  the  highest  number  of  requests  submitted  under  the  2017  SRSP  were  in 
labour  market,  education,  health  and  social  services  (27%)  and  growth  and  business 
environment (23%). 

Distribution  per  policy  area  was  similar  for  Greece  and  Bulgaria  under  the  voluntarily 
transferred  funds: 38% in growth and business  environment,  23% in  governance and public 
administration,  21%  in  labour  market,  education,  health  and  social  services,  9%  in  revenue 
administration and public financial management and 9% in the financial sector.  

in 

identified 

to  challenges 

Around  a  third  of  the  requests  submitted  by  the  Member  States  in  the  context  of  the  2018 
SRSP round related to  the EU  economic  governance process  (implementation of reforms  in 
the  European  Semester  Country-Specific 
response 
Recommendations  or  in  relevant  European  Semester  documents).  Around  a  third  concerned 
support for implementing Union priorities (capital markets union, energy union, etc.), around 
a  third  for  implementing  Member  States’  own  reform  priorities,  and  the  remaining  requests 
for implementing EU law (e.g. in relation to infringements) and reform priorities identified in 
the economic adjustment programmes (Greece only).  
The chart below shows the distribution by category24. 
Figure 3: Number of requests submitted by Member States – split according to circumstances 

24  The  exact  split  was  the  following:  55%  related  to  the  EU  economic  governance  process,  29%  to  the  implementation  of 
Union priorities, 8% to the implementation of Member States’ own priorities, 6% to the implementation of Union law and 
3% to the implementation of economic adjustment programmes. 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Under the 2017 SRSP round, the majority of the requests concerned challenges related to the 
EU economic governance process (38%) and Union priorities (28%). 

3.3.  Application of the assessment criteria 
The Commission’s assessment was based on two sets of elements25:  

  general  principles:  transparency,  equal  treatment  and  sound  financial  management; 

and  

  criteria  for  the  analysis  of  requests:  urgency,  breadth  and  depth  of  the  problems, 
support needs in the policy areas concerned, analysis of socio-economic indicators and 
general administrative capacity of the Member State.  

The Commission analysed the requests for support submitted by the Member States in terms 
of their eligibility and compliance with these principles and criteria.  

A practical two-step approach was undertaken:  

a)  screening for eligibility and analysis of requests; and  
b)  prioritisation of requests for selection.  

As part of the assessment,  the Commission  undertook a broad internal consultation  with  all 
relevant  Commission  services  in  order  to  ensure  complementarity  and  to  avoid  having  the 
same actions funded by several Union funds/programmes (in particular the ESI Funds). The 
process (including the broad consultation with other Commission services which fed into the 
assessment) resulted in the steps described below: 

25 In accordance with Article 7(2) of the SRSP Regulation. 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Consultation 

Screening 

Analysis 

Prioritisation 

Selection 

3.3.1.  Step 1 – screening and analysis of the requests for support 

Screening 

Prior to  assessing the requests submitted under the SRSP 2018 round, the Commission  first 
established  whether  the  requests  met  the  legal  requirements  of  the  SRSP  Regulation 
(eligibility  check).  Requests  which  included  elements  that  were  not  ‘eligible  actions’  under 
the  SRSP  Regulation  (see  Article  6)  such  as  the  purchase  of  equipment,  provision  of  IT 
software,  budget  support  measures,  measures  consisting  of  paying  for  running  costs,  etc., 
were excluded from further assessment.  

As  a  result  of  the  first  screening,  6%  (28  requests)  were  excluded,  and  94%  (416  requests) 
proceeded to further analysis (eligible requests).  

Analysis of the requests for support 

Following the exclusion of ineligible and withdrawn requests, the purpose of the analysis was 
to identify the requests that merited support under the SRSP. The analysis was based on the 
principles and criteria set out in Article 7(2) of the SRSP Regulation. 

A. General principles 

Throughout  the  selection  process,  the  general  principles  of  the  EU  financial  management 
rules (transparency, equal treatment and sound financial management) were applied.  

Transparency:  

The  Commission  maintained  a  dialogue  with  the  Member  States  prior  to  the  submission  of 
their requests. This allowed  clarifications to be provided and the Member States’ requests to 
be refined, and adequate feedback on the assessment process after selection, in particular for 
requests which had not been selected.   

Equal treatment:  

The  Commission  applied  the  assessment  criteria  equally  to  all  requesting  Member  States. 
There  was  no  set  pre-allocation  of  funding  –  the  amount  of  funding  allocated  per  Member 
State  was  determined  based  on  the  compliance  of  the  request  with  the  principles  and 
assessment criteria and on the quality, focus and expected result of the support measures. In 
order to ensure equal treatment, a scoring system was put in place (see sections below). 

Sound financial management: 

The principle of sound financial management requires that EU financial resources are used in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  economy,  efficiency  and  effectiveness.  The  Commission 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
used  the  principle  of  sound  financial  management  to  prioritise  requests  based  on  quality, 
focus and expected results of eligible submitted requests. 

B. Assessment criteria 
The assessment criteria26 were applied in the following way: 

i.  Urgency of the request 

The  Commission  assessed  the  urgency  of  a  request,  as  initially  presented  by  the  Member 
State. It also took account of the following elements: 

  whether the urgency was linked to a crisis;  
  whether the urgency was related to a deadline or a time-bound schedule derived from 
Union  law,  or  from  Union/Commission  policy  priorities  (e.g.  European  Semester, 
Economic  Adjustment  programmes,  capital  markets  union  (CMU),  energy  union, 
digital single market, etc.) 

ii.  Breadth and depth of the problems identified  

The  Commission  assessed  the  severity  (breadth)  and  extent  (depth)  of  the  problem,  as 
presented by the Member State. It also took account of the following elements:  

 

the  Commission's  own  knowledge  and  assessment  of  the  prevailing  situation  in  the 
Member State;  

  country reports, country-specific recommendations, annual reports on the application 
of  EU  law  and  other  relevant  documents  related  to  Union/Commission  priorities 
(energy union, CMU, etc.), as well as to Member States’ own reform priorities, where 
known. 

iii. 

Support needs in respect of the policy areas concerned 

The Commission analysed support needs, as described in the requests by the Member States. 
It also took account of the following elements: 

  at which stage of the reform process the support would be required (the design phase 
or  the  implementation  phase)  and  how  appropriate  the  solution  proposed  by  the 
Member States would be to address it;   

  whether  the  requested  support  measures  were  covered  by  already  existing  support 

measures/instruments (under national or Union (e.g. ESI Funds) programmes). 

iv. 

Socio-economic indicators 

The  Commission  took  account  of  relevant  socio-economic  indicators  (as  they  had  been 
described  by  the  Member  States  in  their  requests  for  support,  or  in  another  manner  as 
appropriate) to support the assessment27. 

v.  General administrative capacity of the Member State 

26 Defined in Article 7(2) of the SRSP Regulation. 

27 These socio-economic indicators may be macro-economic indicators, general indicators or indicators related to the policy 
area concerned, such as unemployment rate, number of early education leavers, number of people in or at risk of poverty and 
social exclusion, investment rates, non-performing loans rates, etc. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
 
The  Commission  also  assessed  the  capacity  of  the  Member  State  (i.e.  of  the  national 
authorities requesting support) to implement and absorb the support measures to be provided, 
and ensure adequate follow-up. The following elements were particularly taken into account:  

  existence  of  a  structure  in  the  requesting  Member  State  that  would  coordinate  and 

follow up on the support measures; 

  staff that would be made available to follow up on the support measures; 
  capacity (also based on past experience) to manage support measures/projects. 

Rating system  

In order to ensure equal treatment, a rating system was put in place to assess how the eligible 
requests complied with the criteria indicated above. 

Analysis based on general principles and criteria: rating system  

Every  request  for  support  that  was  considered  eligible  received  rating  scores  (A  to  C)  that 
evaluated how well the assessment criteria and the principle of sound financial management 
were  fulfilled.  Scores  were  attributed  for  each  of  the  following  criteria:  (i)  urgency  of  the 
request, (ii) breadth and depth of the problems identified, (iii) support needs in respect of the 
policy  areas  concerned,  (iv)  general  administrative  capacity  of  the  Member  State,  (v) 
maturity, (vi) focus and (vii) expected results of the requested support measures. 

- requests with only high and medium scores and a majority of high scores fell into the 
category high scores (at least 4 As, no Cs) 

- requests with only high and medium scores and a majority of medium scores fell into the 
category medium scores (at least 4 Bs, no Cs) 

- requests with one low score fell into the category one major weakness (at least 1 C)  

- requests with more than one low score and medium scores for the rest fell into the category 
several major weaknesses (more than 1 C) 

58%  of  the  416  requests  analysed  in  the  2018  SRSP  round  received  high  scores,  13% 
medium  scores,  12%  had  one  major  weakness  and  17%  several  major  weaknesses.  The 
chart below shows the breakdown in percentages: 

17% 

12% 

13% 

High scores

Medium scores

58% 

One major weakness

Several major
weaknesses

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 4: Requests by rating category 

This  compares  to  the  requests  analysed  under  the  2017  SRSP,  where  71%  of  the  requests 
received high scores and 11% had several major weaknesses. 

Requests for support to be funded by the voluntary transfers from Greece and Bulgaria were 
assessed  against  the  same  principles  and  assessment  criteria.  76%  of  the  requests  received 
high  scores,  8%  medium  scores,  8%  had  one  major  weakness,  and  8%  had  several  major 
weaknesses. 

In both cases, requests with high scores had in general the following characteristics:  

 

 
 
 

the problems/needs identified were sufficiently relevant/important and not covered by 
other Union funds/programmes;  
the solutions proposed were suitable for addressing the problems/needs; 
relevant socio-economic indicators underpinned the problems/needs at stake; 
the  requesting  Member  State  had  sufficient  administrative  capacity  to  follow  up  the 
measure funded by the SRSP. 

3.3.2.  Step 2 – prioritisation of the requests for support 

The results of the screening and analysis stage were used to select requests for 2018 (€30.5 
million available, and €152 million in requests received).  

The  requests  were  prioritised  based  on  the  principle  of  sound  financial  management  (in 
particular taking into account their maturity, focus and expected results). 

Priority was given to: 

  measures  that  were  mature  enough  to  allow  for  quick  delivery  of  support  and  rapid 

 

implementation of reforms on the ground; 
targeted  measures  addressing  defined  objectives  (as  opposed  to  requests  that  were 
more generic or preparatory); and 

  measures with a strong expected results on the ground. 

3.4. 

Selection of requests 

After  the  analysis  and  prioritisation  of  the  416  eligible  requests  for  technical  support,  146 
requests  from  24  Member  States  were  selected  for  funding  under  the  available  2018  SRSP 
budget of €30.5 million. The distribution of selected requests by Member State was as shown 
below. 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

SRSP 2017

AT BE BG CY CZ DE EE EL ES FI FR HR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT PL PT RO SE SI SK
7
0
0

10 13 11

14 10

13

15

13

18

0

9

0

9

3

0

0

0

9

4

0

0

1

SRSP 2018

4

7

5

10

7

1

6

4

6

1

0

17

3

5

8

5

1

7

7

7

5

14

1

7

8

Figure 5: Number of requests selected for funding under the 2017 and 2018 SRSP rounds, per Member State 

With an increase in the budget from €20.5 million in the 2017 SRSP to €30.5 million in the 
2018  SRSP,  the  overall  number  of  requests  selected  for  funding  under  the  2018  SRSP  was 
lower than under the 2017 SRSP, but distributed across more Member States (24). 

The distribution of requests selected for funding under the 2018 SRSP across the main broad 
policy areas was as shown below. 

Figure  6:  Number  of  requests  selected  for  funding  under  the  2018  SRSP–  split  per  main  broad  policy  area  (in 
percentages) 

By  comparison,  the  highest  numbers  of  requests  selected  for  funding  under  the  2017  SRSP 
were  in  labour  market,  education,  health  and  social  policy  (29%)  and  growth  and  business 
environment (28%). 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the funds transferred to the SRSP voluntarily by Greece and Bulgaria under Article 11 of 
the SRSP Regulation, 39 requests were selected for Greece and 4 (i.e. all) for Bulgaria. The 
distribution  per  policy  area  was  40%  for  growth  and  business  environment,  21.5%  for 
governance and public administration, 21.5% for labour market, education, health and social 
policy, 10%  for the financial sector and 7% for  revenue administration  and public financial 
management. 

The  following  chart  shows  the  breakdown  of  the  request  selected  under  the  SRSP  2018 
budget and split according to relevant circumstances:   

3% 

29% 

55% 

6% 

7% 

Economic
adjustment
programme

Economic
governance (e.g.
CSRs, Country
reports, etc)
Member States' own
reform priorities

Figure 7: Number of requests selected under the 2018 SRSP – split according to circumstances of the request (in 
percentages) 

97%  of  requests  selected  for  funding  under  the  2018  SRSP  round  were  given  high  scores. 
The chart below shows the distribution of the scores of the selected requests. 

1% 

2% 

97% 

High scores

Medium scores

One major
weakness

Figure 8: Rating of requests selected for funding under the 2018 SRSP28 

By way of comparison, 88% of requests selected for funding under the 2017 SRSP were given 
high scores. 

28  When  lower-scored  requests  (one  or  several  major  weaknesses)  were  selected,  it  was  because  of  the  importance  of  the 
reform and relative urgency in that particular country. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
                                                           
3.5.  Cooperation and support plans 

Once  the  requests  for  support  had  been  selected,  the  Commission  concluded  a  cooperation 
and support plan29 with each Member State benefiting from the programme. 

Cooperation and support plans 

Member States and the Commission work closely together to carry out actions financed under 
the SRSP. After a Member State submits its request for support, the coordinating authority of 
the requesting Member  State and the Commission  agree on the priorities  and objectives,  an 
indicative timeline, the scope of the support measures and the estimated financial contribution 
for  such  support.  This  agreement  is  reflected  in  a  cooperation  and  support  plan  (CSP).  The 
CSPs  are  multiannual  documents,  signed  and  amended  each  year  (if  need  be)  by  the 
Commission and Member States requesting support from the SRSP.  

Implementation  of  the  support  measures  requires  full  involvement  and  ownership  by  the 
Member  State.  The  CSP  is  not  a  legally  binding  document,  and  it  does  not  serve  as  a 
financing decision (the  estimated global  financial contribution  is  only indicative). However, 
through this document, the Commission and the Member States express their commitment to 
engage in  the implementation of the support measures30. Subject  to  consent  by the Member 
States, the CSPs are transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council. 

In 2018, 24 cooperation and support plans were concluded between the Commission and the 
Member States. They were sent to the European Parliament and the Council on 4 May 2018, 
in line with Article 8 of the SRSP Regulation. 

Indicative  timeline  of  delivery  of 
support measures 

Estimated 
contribution31 

global 

Country 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Q1 2018 – Q1 2021 

Q2 2018 – Q4 2019 

Q1 2018 – Q4 2019 

Q2 2018 – Q2 2020 

Q1 2018 – Q3 2021 

Czech Republic  Q2 2018 – Q2 2020 

Estonia 

Finland 

Q1 2018 – Q2 2020 

Q1 2018 – Q3 2019 

Germany 

Q2 2018 – Q1 2019 

Greece 

Q1 2018 – Q4 2019 

29 In line with Article 7 of the SRSP Regulation. 

€1,070,000 

€990,000 

€1,440,000 

€2,390,000 

€1,270,000 

€680,000 

€1,045,000 

€190,000 

€920,000 

€2,013,500 

30 The content of the CSPs is further defined in section 18.2 and in part VII of the cooperation and support plans. 

31  The  estimated  global  contribution  per  Member  State  is  purely  indicative.  The  final  amounts  depend  on  how  contracts, 
withdrawals, cancellations, etc, develop. 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
 
 
Hungary 

Q2 2018 – Q2 2020 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Q1 2018 – Q4 2019 

Q1 2018 – Q2 2020 

Q1 2018 – Q3 2020 

Lithuania 

Q1 2018 – Q2 2021 

Luxembourg 

Q1 2018 – Q2 2019 

Malta 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

Q1 2018 – Q3 2019 

Q1 2018 – Q2 2020 

Q2 2018 – Q4 2019 

Q1 2018 – Q2 2020 

Q1 2018 – Q2 2020 

Q1 2018 – Q1 2020 

Q1 2018 – Q2 2020 

Q2 2018 – Q4 2019 

€860,000 

€1,230,000 

€1,335,000 

€1,610,000 

€937,500 

€150,000 

€1,000,000 

€1,885,000 

€1,230,000 

€2,524,000 

€1,605,000 

€1,530,000 

€2,235,000 

€190,000 

Bulgaria’s  and  Greece’s  cooperation  and  support  plans  were  amended  (for  Bulgaria  on  16 
October  2018  and  for  Greece  on  29  June  2019)  to  also  include  the  mention  of  technical 
support  measures  (and  their  indicative  timelines)  to  be  funded  by  the  voluntary  transfers 
under Article 11. 

3.6.  Reform partners and special measures 

In  coordination  with  the  Commission,  the  beneficiary  Member  State  may  enter  into 
partnership  with  one  or  more  other  Member  States  which  will  act  as  reform  partners  to 
support specific areas of reform32. In 2018, none of the requesting Member States entered into 
such a partnership. 

Every  year,  a  limited  part  of  the  2018  annual  work  programme  is  earmarked  for  special 
measures33  in  the  event  of  unforeseen  and  duly  justified  grounds  of  urgency  requiring  an 
immediate response for  a maximum period of 6 months.  In 2018, Cyprus requested support 
under special measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Insolvency Service 
of Cyprus and carry out a study to examine the introduction of digital audio recording of court 
proceedings  (linked  to  the  Commission’s  decision  on  state  aid  SA.35334  (2018/N-2)).  Both 
measures have now been finalised (final outputs were delivered within 6 months34). 

3.7. 

 Implementation of support measures 

32 In line with Article 9 of the SRSP Regulation 

33 In accordance with Article 13(6) of the SRSP Regulation. 

34 In line with Article 13(6) of the SRSP Regulation ‘special measures are interim in nature, and […] shall end within six 
months […]’. 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
The  146  selected  requests  resulted  in  135  projects  (some  selected  requests  were  later 
cancelled  by  Member  States  and  some  were  merged  for  implementation  purposes  into  one 
project).  The  135  support  measures  are  listed  in  Annex  I.  The  distribution  of  support 
measures/projects per Member State is shown in the table below.  

12 

10 

7 

5 

4 

6 

5 

7 

7 

7 

5 

5 

6 

5 

4 

3 

13 

8 

7 

6 

1 

1 

1 

AT BE BG HR CY CZ EE DE EL HU IE IT LV LT LU MT PL PT RO SK SI ES SE

Figure  9:  Number  of  projects  implemented  on  the  ground  using  SRSP  2018  funding,  per  Member  State 

Under the 2017 SRSP, 145 projects were being implemented on the ground by the cut-off date 
set the previous year. 

Using the funds transferred to the SRSP voluntarily by Greece and Bulgaria under Article 11 
of  the  SRSP  Regulation,  the  39  requests  selected  for  Greece  resulted  in  31  projects  (some 
selected requests were cancelled later by the Member State and some were merged into one 
project  for  implementation  purposes)  and  4  selected  requests  for  Bulgaria  resulted  in  4 
projects. The 35 support measures are listed in Annex II. 

By 30 November 2019 (here we refer only to  projects  selected  for funding under the SRSP 
2018 round and not including voluntary transfers), 30% of the reform support projects under 
the  2018  SRSP  had  already  been  completed  and  70%  continued  to  be  implemented  on  the 
ground. The chart below shows the state of play of implementation on 30 November 2019. 

30% 

70% 

Completed

On the ground

Figure 10: State of play of 2018 SRSP project implementation 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
By  comparison,  under  the  2017  SRSP,  82%  of  the  projects  had  been  implemented  on  the 
ground and 12% had been finalised by the cut-off date last year. 

The distribution of projects across the main broad policy areas is illustrated in the chart below. 

22% 

23% 

21% 

21% 

13% 

Governance
and public
administration

Growth and
business
environment

Labour
market,
education,
health and
social services

Revenue
administration
and public
financial
management

Financial
services and
access to
finance

Figure 11: Projects by main broad policy area 

Under the 2017 SRSP, the highest number of implemented projects were in the area of growth 
and  business  environment  (30%)  and  labour  market,  education,  health  and  social  services 
(26%). 

The breakdown of specific actions (measures funded by the SRSP 2018 budget) supported in 
each policy area and each Member State is described in the chart below. 

Governance  and  public 
administration  

Growth  and  business 
environment  

The SRSP provides support measures in 15 Member States, in 
particular  in  the  fields  of  the  overall  public  administration, 
procurement,  eGovernment,  the  functioning  of  the  justice 
system, 
the  fight  against  fraud,  corruption  and  money 
laundering,  and  better  absorption  of  the  European  Structural 
and Investment Funds. 

The SRSP provides support measures in 19 Member States, in 
particular  in  the  fields  of  investment  climate,  management  of 
natural  resources  and  resource  efficiency,  and  the  Energy 
Union.    

Labour 
market, 
education,  health  and 
social services 

The SRSP provides support measures in 17 Member States, in 
particular in the fields of healthcare systems, education, training 
and  research,  labour  markets  and  social  policies  and  social 
welfare systems. 

Revenue  administration 
and 
financial 
public 
management  

The SRSP provides support measures in 16 Member States, in 
particular  in  relation  to  revenue  administration,  tax  policy, 
budget 
budget 

preparation 

spending 

reviews, 

and 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Financial 
access to finance 

sector 

and 

implementation and transition towards accrual accounting, and 
fiscal framework. 

The SRSP provides support measures in 12 Member States, in 
particular  in  the  fields  of  capital  market  diagnostics  and 
insolvency  and 
strategies,  capital  market  development, 
reinforcing 
nonperforming 
financial stability. 

literacy  and 

financial 

loans, 

The largest proportion of support measures selected under the SRSP 2018 round and currently 
being implemented concern the following sectors/actions (see the figure below and Annex III 
for more details): 

  Tax policy (13%); 
  Education and training (9%); 
  Digital public administration (8%); 
  Governance (8%); 
  Healthcare system (7%); 
  Capital markets union (5%). 

21 

 
 
 
 
 
18 

Trade
Tax policy
State-owned enterprise management
Spending reviews
Social policies
Small and medium-sized enterprise policy

Sectoral expertise (transport, logistics, tourism,…

Public procurement
Public accounting and fiscal statistics
Pension and disabilities
Non-performing loans
Modelling, analysis and assessments
Migration and border management
Labour market policies
Judicial reform
Investment management and PPPs
Insolvency
Healthcare system
Governance
Fiscal framework
Financial literacy

Environment, circular economy, water, land…
Enhancing competitiveness and productivity of…

Energy
Education and training
Digital Public Administration
Digital economy
Climate
Capital Markets Union
Budgeting
Budget execution and cash management
Better regulation
Bank supervision and resolution
Anti-corruption / anti-money-laundering
Access to finance

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 

1 

2 
2 
2 

2 

4 

4 

3 

5 

4 

6 

3 

7 

2 

2 

2 

3 

4 
4 

10 

11 

12 

11 

Figure 12: Sectors / actions covered by the support measures 

For the funds transferred to the SRSP voluntarily by Greece and Bulgaria under Article 11 of 
the SRSP Regulation, by 30 November 2019, 24% of the projects were under preparation and 
74%  were  being  implemented  on  the  ground.  One  recently  approved  project  had  not  yet 
started (2%). The largest proportion of support measures  concerns the environment, circular 
economy, water and land registry; labour market policies; better regulation, licensing, permits 
and inspections; central and local administration; and judicial reform, social policies and other 
sectoral expertise.  

118 different authorities were recipients of support measures funded under the 2018 SRSP.  

The type of beneficiary authority receiving support is shown in the chart below. 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
  
 
8% 

3% 

14% 

9% 

66% 

Central government/
Ministry

Other public bodies

Public agency

Regional/Local
authority

Regulatory authority

Figure 13: Type of beneficiary authority receiving support measures under the 2018 SRSP 

The distribution of beneficiary authorities in each Member State is shown by type in the table 
below.  

Member 
State 

AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
EE 
EL 
ES 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 
Total 

Central 
government/ 
Ministry 
3 

4 
6 
4 

4 
2 
5 
7 
1 
3 
2 
4 
1 
6 
4 
4 
2 
7 

3 
6 
78 

Type of beneficiary authority 

Public 
agency 

Regulatory 
authority 

Regional / 
Local 
authority 

Other 
public 
bodies 

Total 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 
1 
1 
2 
1 
3 
1 
17 

1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 

1 
1 

1 

9 

23 

3 

1 
1 
1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

2 
12 

4 
6 
5 
8 
4 
1 
4 
4 
6 
10 
2 
4 
5 
4 
1 
7 
6 
6 
4 
11 
1 
7 
8 
118 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For  the  funds  transferred  to  the  SRSP  voluntarily  by  Greece  and  Bulgaria,  the  majority  of 
beneficiary authorities were ministries (82%) and the remaining 18% other public bodies, the 
central government or public agencies. 

Means of implementation 

The programme’s support measures can be implemented either directly by the Commission or 
indirectly  by  entities  and  persons  other  than  Member  States35.  Financing  of  the  support 
measures  can  take  the  form  of  grants,  including  grants  to  the  Member  States’  national 
authorities,  public  procurement  contracts,  reimbursements  of  costs  incurred  by  external 
experts, contributions to trust funds set up by international organisations, and actions carried 
out in indirect management. 

By  31  November  2019,  the  2018  SRSP  budget  of  €30.5  million  for  projects  selected  for 
funding under the 2018 SRSP was being implemented as follows.  

4% 

44% 

52% 

Grants

Public
procurement

Indirect
management

Figure 14: Breakdown of the means of implementing projects under the SRSP 2018 budget (% of budget) 

35 In line with Article 13 of the SRSP Regulation. 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Grants 

By  31  November  2019  (referring  here  only  to  projects  selected  for  funding  under  the  2018 
round),  the  majority  of  grants  being  implemented36  were  awarded  to  international 
organisations (52%), government bodies (18%) and public law bodies (16%), which is similar 
to the distribution of grants awarded for projects under the 2017 round. 

5% 

1% 

16% 

3% 

18% 

10% 

47% 

International Organisation

Bodies governed by private law
with a public service mission

Government bodies

Private Company

Public law bodies

NGO

Other (specify)

Figure 15: Types of technical support providers implementing grants in the 2018 SRSP round 

Public procurement and TAIEX 

By 31 November 2019 (referring only to projects selected for funding under the 2018 round), 
the majority of the procurements were specific contracts based on framework contracts (79%) 
followed by direct procurement contracts for services (16%).  

4%  of  the  2018  funding  has  been  implemented  through  a  Service  Level  Agreement  entered 
into with  DG NEAR to  utilise the TAIEX37 instrument  under a programme entitled TAIEX 
SRSP  Peer  to  Peer,  which  provided  for  expert  exchange  between  Member  States' 
administrations,  and 1% through simplified expert contracts  for private sector experts (AMI 
list). 

36 In accordance with the Commission Implementing Decision on the adoption of the work programme for 2018 and on the 
financing  of  Structural  Reform  Support  Programme  (C(2018)  1358  final)  direct  grants  may  be  awarded  to  international 
organisations and Member States bodies and other bodies with a public service mission which, in  view of the nature of the 
action, have recognised and relevant technical competence, high degrees of specialisation or administrative power in various 
thematic areas under the SRSP. 

37  TAIEX  is  the  Commission’s  Technical  Assistance  and  Information  Exchange  instrument.  TAIEX  supports  public 
administrations in the approximation, application and enforcement of EU legislation as well as facilitating the sharing of EU 
best practices, https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/tenders/taiex_en 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
4% 

1% 

16% 

79% 

AMI list (Call for
expression of interest)

Framework contracts

Procurement
contracts for services

TAIEX

Figure 16: Types of procurement contract and TAIEX actions (value) 

Delegation agreement 

By  31  November  2019  (referring  here  only  to  projects  selected  for  funding  under  the  2018 
round), the implementation of seven projects was being indirectly managed by the European 
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). 

For the funds transferred to the SRSP voluntarily by Greece and Bulgaria under Article 11 of 
the SRSP Regulation, the support measures were implemented mainly through grants (65%), 
public procurement (30%) and to a smaller extent also through indirect management (5%). 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
4. 

PROGRESS IN RELATION TO THE PROGRAMME’S OBJECTIVES 

Institutional, administrative and growth-sustaining structural reforms are, by their very nature, 
complex  processes,  the  design  and  implementation  of  which  require  a  complete  chain  of 
highly specialised knowledge and skills. In some Member States, the capacity to initiate and 
implement  structural  reforms  is  not  always  adequate  to  address  the  challenges  ahead. 
Inadequate  responses  to  economic  and  social  challenges  could  hamper  competitiveness, 
growth, employment, and investment.  

Considering  the  European  dimension  of  these  challenges,  the  SRSP  aims  to  reinforce 
administrative  capacity  in  the  Member  States  and,  by  doing  so,  help  the  Member  States 
implement institutional, administrative and structural reforms. Better administrative capacity 
can make administrative structures more efficient, benefiting the public and business.  

To this end, through its support measures, the SRSP aims to achieve the following results:  

 

improved  ability  of  national  authorities  to  identify  and  address  economic  and 
structural weaknesses;  

  strengthened  ability  to  develop,  design  and  implement  reform  policies  according  to 

 

 

 

 

priorities;  
improved  capacity  of  national  authorities  to  define  processes  and  methodologies  to 
support the design, management and implementation of reforms, and/or the efficiency 
and effectiveness of human resources; 
increased  professional  knowledge,  skills  and  adaptability  to  change  management 
processes;  
improved  channels  of  communication  with  the  Commission,  Member  States  and 
international  organisations  in  order  to  improve  communication  and  coordination  of 
reform efforts; and  
improved  capacity  to  ensure  progress  of  reforms  recommended  within  the  European 
Semester cycle, economic adjustment programmes and Member States’ own-initiative 
reforms, and to ensure consistent and coherent implementation of Union law. 

Against  this  background,  the  intervention  logic  of  the  programme  can  be  illustrated  in  the 
chart  below:  the  activities  under  the  programme  produce  outputs,  which  in  turn  generate 
outcomes. The outcomes then contribute to the achievement of the specific objectives at the 
project and programme level. This in turn feeds into progress towards the general objective of 
the  programme,  which  is  to  support  growth-sustaining  structural  reforms  in  the  Member 
States.    

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
General Objective of 
the Programme 

• Contributing to institutional, administrative and growth-sustaining 
structural reforms in the Member States by providing support to 
national authorities for measures related to institutional 
frameworks, governance, administration and socio-economic 
sectors 

Specific objectives 
of the 
programme/projects 

• Support in designing reforms 
• Support for the development and implementation of reform policies 
• Support for the definition and implementation of processes and 

methodologies 

• Support for more efficient and effective human resource 

management  

Expected outcomes 

• Adoption of a strategy 
• Adoption of a draft of a new law, act or modification of an existing 

one 

• Adoption of (new) procedures and actions to enhance the 

implementation of reforms 

• Improved internal working procedures, methodologies and 

processes/organisation 

• Organisational change, change management, improved human 

resource management  

Outputs 

Activities 

• Action plan, roadmap  
• Guidelines, handbook  
• Recommendation  
• Terms of reference  
• Legislative proposal  
• Analysis, report  
• Workshops (including material), training, training material 
• Study visit reports  
• Communication (including material) and other events  

• Short term expert mission(s); 
• Long term expert (resident expert and similar); 
• Study visit (of officials of the beneficiary MS); 
• Workshop/conference/seminar; 
• Training activity; 
• IT expertise/advice; 
• Collection of statistics; 
• Study, research, evaluation; 
• Communication activities 
• Compilation/dissemination of material (including through information 

technology systems) 

• Organisation of local operations 

Figure 17: Intervention logic of the SRSP 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.1. 

Progress in achieving the general objective 

The  general  objective  of  the  programme  is  to  contribute  to  institutional,  administrative  and 
growth-sustaining  structural  reforms  in  the  Member  States  by  providing  support  to  national 
authorities for measures aimed at reforming and strengthening institutions, governance, public 
administration,  and  economic  and  social  sectors  in  response  to  economic  and  social 
challenges.  This  is  done  with  a  view  to  enhancing  cohesion,  competitiveness,  productivity, 
sustainable  growth,  job  creation  and  investment,  in  particular  in  the  context  of  economic 
governance processes, including through assistance for the efficient, effective and transparent 
use of the Union funds38. 

While it is not within the remit of this report to illustrate the ultimate effects of the reforms39 
on which a Member State may have embarked and for which some support may be or is being 
provided  under  the  SRSP,  we  can  say  that  in  general  terms,  the  SRSP  is  on  track  when  it 
comes to delivering on its general objective40.  

The  support  measures  implemented  under  the  SRSP  have  provided  assistance  to  national 
authorities in the design and implementation of a whole range of institutional, administrative 
and structural reforms. The activities under the programme and the outputs already delivered 
under the SRSP 2017 and 2018 rounds (described below) help strengthen the overall capacity 
and sound governance of the requesting Member States. 

Support  measures  are  being  implemented  in  those  policy  sectors  for  which  institutional, 
administrative and/or structural reforms have been envisaged and/or should be undertaken by 
the Member States, also in view of the support provided.  

The table below shows that the support measures under way in the requesting Member States 
and  for  projects  selected  for  financing  under  the  SRSP  2018  round  contribute  to  the 
implementation of institutional, administrative and structural reforms that Member States 
face in various economic and social sectors, and which are being undertaken in response to 
economic and social challenges. 

Contribution to institutional and administrative reforms 

 
 

Effectiveness of the judicial system 
Efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector 

38 In accordance with Article 4 of the SRSP Regulation. 

N° of 
measures 

5 
11 

39 According to Article 16 of the SRSP Regulation, the Commission shall provide an independent mid-term evaluation report 
with  information  on  the  achievement  of  the  programme's  objectives,  the  efficiency  of  the  use  of  the  resources  and  the 
programme’s European added value, as well as the continued relevance of objectives and actions. 

40 Some external factors, such as changes in the political priorities of Member States, may influence the implementation of 
the support measures and there is therefore a risk that reforms for which support had been provided are not implemented in 
the end. For this reason, the causal link between the support measures provided under the programme and the achievement of 
the general objective has to be determined on a case-by-case basis and by taking account of external influencing factors. 

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Public financial management reforms 
Anti-corruption/anti-money-laundering 
Digital economy/digital public administration 
Reforms improving the regulatory frameworks  
Reforms in public procurements rules 
Spending reviews 
Tax administration reforms 

Contribution to economic-related and social-related reforms 

6 
4 
13 
5 
2 
4 
18 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

4 
Acceleration of Trans-European Networks for Transport projects 
5 
Enhancing competitiveness and productivity of SMEs 
Implementing legal frameworks in environment, circular economy, water,            
6 
land registry and spatial planning 
11 
Making healthcare systems more accessible, effective and resilient 
4 
Investment management & public private partnerships 
2 
Legal framework addressing insolvency and non-performing loans 
1 
Labour market policies 

Capital markets union and access to finance 

Improving the quality and innovation of educational and training systems 
Bank supervision and resolution frameworks 
Pensions and disabilities schemes 
Energy efficiency, energy poverty and renewables 

11 

13 
3 
3 
4 

135 

TOTAL  

30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
4.2. 

Progress in achieving the specific objectives 

Support  measures  financed  by  the  SRSP  2018  budget  are  contributing  to  the  specific 
objectives of the programme as follows41 (see Annex III for more details): 

  47% of support measures contribute to the design of reforms. 

o  The  majority  of  support  measures  contributing  to  this  objective  are  in  tax 
policy,  digital  public  administration,  education  and  training  and  capital 
markets union. 

  64% contribute to the formulation, development and implementation of reforms; 

o  The  majority  of  support  measures  contributing  to  this  objective  are  in  tax 

policy, education and training, healthcare, and capital markets union. 

  56%  contribute 
methodologies; 

to 

the  definition  and 

implementation  of  processes  and 

o  The  majority  of  support  measures  contributing  to  this  objective  are  in  tax 
policy,  education  and  training,  healthcare,  digital  public  administration, 
judicial reform and capital markets union. 

  19% of support measures aim to help improve efficiency and effectiveness of human 

resources management. 

o  The  majority  of  support  measures  contributing  to  this  objective  are  in  digital 
public  administration,  healthcare,  judicial  reform  and  management  of  human 
resources. 

For the funds transferred to the SRSP voluntarily by Greece and Bulgaria under Article 11 of 
the SRSP Regulation,  the support measures were related to  the design of reforms  (33%), to 
the  formulation,  development  and  implementation  of  reforms  (55%),  to  the  definition  and 
implementation  of  processes  and  methodologies  (33%)  and  to  improving  the  efficiency  and 
effectiveness of human resources management (18%). 

4.3. 

Expected outcomes of SRSP activities  

In  line  with  the  intervention  logic  of  the  programme  (see  Figure  18),  the  support  measures 
financed under the 2018 SRSP budget are expected to achieve outcomes that will ultimately 
contribute to the achievement of the general and specific SRSP objectives as follows.  

  24% of support measures are expected to lead (or have led) to adoption of a strategy, 

draft of a new law or act, or modification of an existing one;  

  47%  of  support  measures  are  expected  to  lead  (or  have  led)  to  adoption  of  (new) 

procedures and actions to enhance the implementation of reforms; 

41 Each support measure can contribute to more than one specific objective,  which is why the sum of the figures appear to 
amount to more than 100%. See Annex III for a more detailed listing. 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
 
  50%  of  support  measures  strive  to  deliver  (or  have  delivered)  improved  internal 

working procedures, methodologies and processes/organisation; 

  14%  of  support  measures  aim  to  bring  about  organisational  change,  change 

management and improved human resource management;  

  16%  of  support  measures  are  expected  to  lead  (or  have  led)  to  other  results 
(indentification  of  policy  options,  strengthened  administrative  capacity,  collection  of 
data and information, strategic and operational planning, etc.). 

For the funds transferred to the SRSP voluntarily by Greece and Bulgaria under Article 11 of 
the  SRSP Regulation,  33%  are  expected  to  lead  (or  have  led)  to  the  adoption  of  a  strategy, 
draft of a new law or act, or modification of an existing one; 30% to the adoption of  (new) 
procedures and actions to enhance the implementation of reforms; 45% of support measures 
and 
strive 
processes/organisation;  and  21%  aim  to  bring  about  organisational  change,  change 
management, and improved human resource management. 

internal  working  procedures,  methodologies 

to  deliver 

improved 

4.4. 

European added value 

Actions  selected  under  the  SRSP  2018  round  are  designed  to  ensure  complementarity  and 
synergy  with  other  programmes  and  policies  at  national,  Union  and  international  level, 
contribute  to  further  promoting  mutual  trust  and  cooperation  between  beneficiary  Member 
States and the Commission, and ensure consistent and coherent implementation of Union law. 
In addition, some actions should allow for the development and implementation of solutions 
that address national challenges but also have a positive cross-border impact and/or impact on 
the Union as a whole.  

The Commission is in a better position than any single Member State to identify and channel 
good  practices.  In  many  instances,  therefore,  support  measures  delivered  to  the  Member 
States have been improved by the exchange of good practices among the Member States and 
between Member States and international organisations. This also enabled efficiency gains, as 
positive results in one Member State could be implemented in another. 

Support  measures  implemented  under  the  SRSP  2018  are  expected  to  generate  European 
added value, as the following examples illustrate42. 

  45%  of  support  measures  are  expected  to  have  an  impact  on  cross-border  or 

Union-wide challenges: 

o 

the same support measures are being provided under the SRSP 2018 to  three 
different Member States in the area of health system reform (aiming to extend 
coverage  and  effectiveness  of  colorectal  cancer  screening  programmes  and 
contribute to a reduction in cancer rates in the population). They address cross-

42 Each support measure can contribute to more than one element relevant to European added value. 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
border  issues  with  cross-border  solutions  and  respond  to  Union-wide 
challenges. 

  65% are expected to complement other Union programmes43: 

o  support measures provided under the SRSP 2018 helped a managing authority 
identify  bottlenecks  in  the  implementation  of  the  European  Maritime  and 
Fisheries  Fund  (EMFF),  with  the  aim  of  improving  its  management  capacity 
and performance. 

  46% are expected to contribute to the consistent and coherent implementation of 

Union laws and policies: 

o  support  measures  provided  under  the  SRSP  2018  are  helping  Member  States 
develop capital markets, ensure compliance with the EU’s environmental laws, 
reform the electricity market and foster decarbonisation, or develop guidelines 
for  ensuring  compliance  with  the  EU  General  Data  Protection  Regulation 
(GDPR). 

  37%  of  support  measures  are  expected  to  contribute  to  the  sharing  of  good 

practices, also with a view to increasing the visibility of the programme: 

o  support  measures  provided  under  the  SRSP  involved  coaching  visits  from 
officials  from  other  Member  States  which  have  successfully  implemented 
spending reviews in the same policy areas as the requesting Member State. 

  35% are  expected to promote  mutual trust between the beneficiary Member State 

and the Commission and between Member States: 

o  support  measures  enabling  the  exchange  of  experiences  and  lessons  learned 
between  two  national  administrations  in  the  field  of  education.  The  objective 
was  to  help  better  understand  the  challenges  of  comprehensive  curricula 
reform fostering key competencies.   

For the funds transferred to the SRSP voluntarily by Greece and Bulgaria under Article 11 of 
the SRSP Regulation, 39% of the support measures are expected to have an impact on cross-
border  or  Union-wide  challenges,  39%  are  expected  to  contribute  to  the  consistent  and 
coherent  implementation  of  Union  laws  and  policies,  36%  are  expected  to  contribute  to  the 
sharing  of  good  practices  and  15%  are  expected  to  promote  mutual  trust  between  the 
beneficiary Member State and the Commission and between the Member States. 

43  Other  Union  funds  or  programmes,  such  as  the  European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIF)  or  other  Community 
programmes. 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
5. 

DELIVERED SUPPORT MEASURES UNDER THE PROGRAMME 

The second  year of implementation of the SRSP is already showing concrete results. By 30 
November  2019,    123  of  the  projects  implemented  under  both  the  2017  and  2018  SRSP 
rounds have already delivered concrete results44. 

AT BE BG HR CY CZ EE FR EL IE IT LV LT MT PL PT RO SK SI ES

SRSP 2017
SRSP 2018 2

6

9
4

3
7

4
4

3

1

1

1
1

5
2

8
2

9
1

7
3

8
4

1

9
2

3
1

6
1

2

3

Figure 18: Number of completed projects under the SRSP 2017 and 2018 rounds, per Member State 

While the outputs of the individual projects are known (a draft law, strategic and legal advice, 
studies,  training,  workshops,  recommendations,  actions,  plans,  etc.),  the  report  does  not 
systematically evaluate the extent to which the Member State authorities have used the results 
of the support measures to design or implement reforms (the outcome). 

The SRSS established a mechanism to evaluate the outcomes in order to assess the extent to 
which  the  support  provided  to  Member  States  met  its  goals  and  to  identify  factors  which 
influenced the successful delivery of the support measures.  

Under this mechanism, authorities benefitting from  the programme provide feedback on the 
support  provided  (the  outputs)  and  information  concerning  follow-up  actions  taken  several 
months after delivery of the support measures.  

Some  illustrative  examples  of  actual  results  of  the  support  delivered,  and  the  use  of  these 
measures by Member States where available, are provided below. 

Contribution to institutional and administrative reforms 

44 The implementation period covered by this report (of support measures selected for funding in 2018) is 31 August 2017  - 
31 October 2019. 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Strategy for internal audit and training of internal auditors in 
local government in Romania (SRSP 2017) 
The  overall  objective  of  the  support  measures  was  to  strengthen  the  operation  of  the 
public  internal  audit  system  in  Romania,  by  providing  support  to  the  Central 
Harmonisation Unit for Public Internal Audit (CHUPIA).  
The project delivered a new Public Internal Audit Strategy for t2020-2024 and a new 
training  programme  which  laid  the  foundations  for  increased  professional  capacity  of 
public internal auditors.  
The strategy is already under implementation and the new curriculum is now part 
of the training programme for public internal auditors. The expected impact of the 
project  is  a  stronger  internal  audit  culture  in  the  public  administration,  particularly  at 
local level, as well as, a better public financial control framework and environment.  

Creation of objective criteria for the recruitment and 
promotion of judges in Cyprus (SRSP 2018) 
The  overall  objective  of  the  support  measures  was  to  (a)  bring  Cyprus  into  line  with 
most European countries, most of which already have in place objective criteria for the 
recruitment  and  evaluation  of  judges,  (b)  enhance  the  independence  and  efficiency  of 
judges, and (c) establish meritocracy amongst the judiciary through the development of 
objective criteria in the recruitment, promotion and evaluation of judges. 
The  main  deliverable  was  a  two-fold  report  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Cyprus  with 
specific recommendations on how to set objective criteria for the recruitment and 
the  evaluation  and  promotion  of  judges  both based  on  best  practices  in  Europe  and 
other parts of the world. 
The proposed procedures for the criteria for appointment and promotion of judges 
were adopted by the Supreme Court of Cyprus and are now in place. It is expected 
that  this  will  make  positive  impact  on  the  quality  of  justice  and  form  a  basis  for  the 
establishment of meritocracy amongst judges. 

Strategic human resources management and innovation in the 
public sector in Ireland (SRSP 2018) 
The  project  supported  the  delivery  of  the  Irish  civil  and  public  service  modernisation 
strategy, through a process of deep stakeholder engagement. For the civil service (core 
administration), the focus was on reviewing the current human resources  management 
system, and preparing to move toward a more strategic HR operating model.  
The project engaged stakeholders from several departments (Irish ministries) to discuss 
and  agree  on  ways  and  means  of  service  transformation,  and  to  address  concerns  and 
impact on roles and people. The outcomes were concrete transition initiatives related 
to  talent  management  and  strategic  HR  (including  some  centralisation  of  the  HR 
function).  As  a  next  step,  the  Irish  civil  service  will  move  toward  delivering  the 
transition plan.  
On the public service side (including for example education and health), the focus was 
on how to build a stronger innovation culture. The project benchmarked the innovation 
maturity  of  several  services,  and  prepared  an  improvement  plan  with  twelve 
recommendations  linked  to:  strategy,  capabilities,  leadership,  network  and  central 
support,  and  resources.  The  relevant  authority  will  now  engage  to  deliver  an 
innovation transformation roadmap, which the project had prepared. 

Contribution to economic-related and social-related reforms 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Tools to assist SMEs in Bulgaria with regulatory compliance 
(SRSP 2017) 
The  objective  of  the  support  measures  was  to  support  the  Ministry  of  Economy  to 
develop  web-based,  user-friendly  tools  for  small-and-medium-sized  enterprises 
(SMEs)  and  to  help  them  to  better  understand  and  comply  with  the  regulatory 
framework.  
The  support  consisted  of  (i)  identifying  the  most  complex  and  common  regulations 
affecting businesses in their interaction with the administration (surveys, interviews 
and  consultations);  and  (ii)  developing  simple,  business-friendly  web-based 
descriptions of the 120 most complex and common regulations.  

The  new  tool  is  available  on  the  Ministry’s  website  and  more  than  7,000  users 
accessed the simplified guidance in the first months after its publication.   

Improving inland navigation and traffic conditions in the 
Antwerp port area in Belgium (SRSP 2018) 
The  objective  of  the  project  was  to  support  the  Port  of  Antwerp  to  reduce  road 
congestion and improve the navigation and coordination of vessels in the port area by 
(i) investigating the concept of “inland nodes”, with a study on bundling volumes 
at  consolidation  points  and  providing  regular  services  towards  the  port’s  terminals; 
and (ii) analysing four  potential approaches and developing a business case for 
improved  coordination  of 
its  system 
inland  navigation, 
requirements.  The  Port  Authority  endorsed  the  business  cases  and  technical 
solutions developed. 

together  with 

Water sector reform in Romania (SRSP 2017) 
The  objective  of  the  project  was  to  support  the  development  of  economic  and 
environmental  regulation  in  the  water  sector  in  Romania  by:  (i)  developing  a 
comprehensive  information  framework  for  the  national  water  regulator,  which  was 
piloted  on  three  regional  water  companies  and  (ii)  providing  a  series  of  workshops 
and trainings for water industry stakeholders.  
The  project  created  a  structure  that  would  enable  roll-out  of  information 
framework to water companies across Romania and incentivise improvements to 
their operational performance. 

Education reform in Croatia (SRSP 2017) 
The  SRSP  provided  support  to  the  Croatian  authorities  to  implement  the  changes 
introduced by the new curriculum that encompasses all levels of education, namely 
teaching of new skills and competences, introduction of learning outcomes and 
use of formative assessment. As a result, the national authorities are equipped with 
(i)  a  set  of  more  than  100  mentors  duly  trained  in  the  new  competences  to  train 
teachers,  (ii)  a  rich  set  of  audiovisual  material  uploaded  on  their  e-platform  to 
support  teachers  in  schools,  and  (iii)  a  group  of  school  leaders  trained  to  train 
other leaders in becoming vectors of change.  

36 

 
 
 
 
 
Health system reform in Slovenia (SRSP 2017) 
The  SRSP  has  been  supporting  Slovenia  in  four  strategic  reform  areas,  namely  (i) 
governance  of  the  health  care  system;  (ii)  long-term  care;  (iii)  quality  of  care  and 
patient safety; and (iv) financing of hospital services.  
The  collaboration  between  Slovenia  and  the  Commission  on  key  reform  areas 
facilitated  the  preparation  and  adoption  of  laws  and  regulations  and  the 
deployment of tools to contribute to the quality, accessibility and long-term fiscal 
sustainability of the health and long-term care systems in Slovenia.  
The support measures helped the authorities to (i) establish a comprehensive set of 
tools and mechanisms to improve the governance of the health system (i.e. a health 
system performance assessment and a health workforce planning), (ii) strengthen the 
implementation of a pilot in long-term care schemes that will facilitate the rollout 
of the system  at national level, (iii) establish  a national patient safety system  and 
enhance  the  quality  of  care,  and  (iv)  modernise  the  hospital  financing  system. 
These  reforms  are  key  to  ensuring  adequate  healthcare  and  long-term  care  are 
provided to the population. 

Welfare (social benefits) reform in Croatia (SRSP 2017) 
The SRSP has been supporting Croatia with the consolidation of social benefits. The 
SRSS, working with the national authorities, collected, classified, and analysed local 
social benefits using the standardised European System of Integrated Social 
Protection Statistics (ESSPROS) methodology, which now allows the national 
authorities to effectively monitor the type of benefits provided by local authorities. As 
a result, the national authorities can for the first time (i) analyse the effects of local 
benefits for poverty reduction, (ii) monitor the results of local public spending on 
social benefits, and (iii) support local authorities in strengthening the design of 
social programmes. Ultimately, the consolidation of social benefits according to the 
ESSPROS methodology will increase the quality of services provided to citizens as 
well as improve the targeting of social programmes to those most in need.  

Spending review in Spain (SRSP 2018) 
The  objective  of  the  project  was  to  help  implement  a  review  of  outpatient 
pharmaceutical public spending by carrying out nine technical reports to be used by 
the  Spanish  Independent  Fiscal  Institution  (AIReF)  to  prepare  its  final  spending 
review report.  
  Before  that,  some  of  the 
The  final  report  was  published  in  June  2019. 
recommendations  made  in  the  technical  reports  had  already  been  endorsed  by 
the Spanish government in its 2019 stability programme.  
The objective is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending in 
Spain. 

Revenue administration reform in Latvia (SRSP 2017, SRSP 
2018) 
The SRSP provided support to the State Revenue Service to implement the mid-term 
tax strategy by carrying out (i) a measurement of the VAT gap by industry sector 
and business segment and, (ii) an analysis of the different types of tax fraud being 
perpetrated in Latvia, including recommendations and training on tackling them. 
The programme continues to support the State Revenue Service in 2018 and 2019 to 
implement the mid-term tax strategy. The objective is to improve the detection and 
deterrence  of  non-compliance  and  fraud  in  key  tax  areas  and  to  increase  state 
revenues. 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Public financial management reform in Portugal (SRSP 
2017) 
The SRSS provides support for implementation of the 2015 Budget Framework 
Law in the areas of cash forecasting, commitments controls and non-tax revenue 
collection. Following the advice provided, the Portuguese National Republican 
guard (GNR) will test a new accounting and collection process for non-tax 
revenue as from January 2020. The objective is to strengthen expenditure 
control and adequate budgeting in Portugal.  

Strengthen the resolution capacity of the Romanian 
authorities (SRSP 2018) 
The SRSP helped to conduct a crisis resolution exercise with the National Bank 
of  Romania,  the  Bank  Deposit  Guarantee  Fund  and  the  Ministry  of  Public 
Finance.  The  exercise  tested  the  procedures  that  Romania  has  in  place  to 
handle  a  collapsing  bank.  The  exercise  increased  the  capacity  of  the 
authorities to handle such situations and additionally identified a number of 
options  for  efficiency  gains,  which  the  Romanian  authorities  have 
implemented.  

Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the 
Insolvency Service of Cyprus (SRSP 2018) 
The  objective  of  the  project  was  to  support  the  Cypriot  authorities  in  the 
reorganisation of the Insolvency Service. The support included working with the 
authorities  to  develop  a  new  organisational  structure  for  the  Service,  while 
putting in place a replacement and succession plan and establishing manuals and 
guides for staff on all core and sub-procedures in the insolvency framework. The 
authorities  are  moving  forward  with 
implementation  by  creating  an 
organisationally  independent  Insolvency  Service  with  the  new  structure 
responsible for the implementation. 

Supporting the Croatian development bank (SRSP 2018) 
The  SRSP  provided  support  to  the  Croatian  development  bank  (HBOR)  to 
introduce  a  medium-term  strategy.  The  work  involved  (i)  an  internal  and 
external analysis of HBOR’s environment, including an ex-ante market analysis, 
(ii)  the  development  of  a  strategic  plan,  together  with  a  methodology  for 
monitoring  and  implementation,  and  (iii)  proposals  for  organisational  changes. 
HBOR is now planning to take the strategic plan forward and move towards 
implementation. 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
6.  CONCLUSION 

Structural  reforms  are  crucial  to  modernising  the  economies  of  the  Member  States  and  to 
encourage  investment,  create  jobs  and  raise  living  standards.  The  overall  successful 
implementation  of  reforms  requires  good  administrative  capacity  and  a  great  sense  of 
ownership of the reform process by the Member State concerned. The SRSP aims to help 
Member State authorities in their efforts to design and implement growth-enhancing reforms. 

The second year of the implementation of the SRSP showed an increase in demand for the 
programme from Member States  – 24 Member States submitted 444 requests for support 
(the SRSP 2017 round saw 271 requests for support from 16 Member States). This is the first 
indication that the support provided by the Commission is relevant and needed.  

This report has also described how the Commission has implemented the measures funded 
under the 2018 SRSP and how it is monitoring actions finalised under both the SRSP 2017 
and 2018 rounds.   

Overall, the first two  years of implementation of the SRSP have shown that the programme 
can provide the necessary assistance to the national authorities to identify and overcome 
certain  structural  weaknesses  and  bottlenecks  in  the  design  or  implementation  of 
reforms.  Likewise,  it  has  so  far  proven  to  be  a  significant  tool  in  improving  the  Member 
States’ capacity to define more efficient processes and methodologies and/or progress towards 
more effective human resource management. A number of concrete examples of results and 
follow-up actions by the governments demonstrate this. 

The  increase  in  demand  and  the  first  positive  results  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  in 
November  2018,  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  decided  to  step  up  the  support 
provided and increase the SRSP budget by €80 million for 2019-2020. 

While  results  of  the  support  actions  carried  out  under  the  SRSP  contribute  to  the  reform 
process however, effective follow-up of such actions in terms of concretisation of reforms 
remain the prerogative of the recipient Member State.  

In  the  years  to  come,  the  Commission  will  continue  to  monitor  the  uptake  of  the  support 
measures, as well as the implementation of institutional, administrative and growth-enhancing 
reforms. 

39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX I 

LIST OF SUPPORT MEASURES IMPLEMENTED UNDER SRSP 2018 

Governance and public administration 

Assistance  in  introducing  modern  methods  of  training  at  the  National  Institute  of  Administration 
(INA)  
Increasing efficiency of the institutions of the public sector  
Capacity  building  for  Chief  Information  Officers  (CIOs)  and  Information  and  Communications 
Technology (ICT) officers in the civil service 
Monitoring and evaluation of public administration reform 
Introduction of a workforce planning process in the public sector 
Monitoring  the  performance  and  implementation  of  the  European  Maritime  and  Fisheries  Fund 
(EMFF)  
Creation of objective criteria on recruitment and promotion of judges 
Infrastructure consolidation 
Internal audit and control methodology 
Building capacity on digital public service take-up 
Development of e-catalogues for e-procurement 
Implementation of the anti-corruption action plan  
Support for the implementation of the national digital strategy 
Efficiency and quality of the justice system 
Public procurement reform 
Re-engineering of processes with a focus on procurement 
Compliance of MoC IT systems with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 
Improve administrative capacity of the Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council 
Public service reform: human resources and innovation 
Capacity building for the Chief Information Officers Office  
Development of labs for administrative simplification, human resources and administrative branding 
Promoting e-Justice 
Support for the reform of audit performance  
Reform of anti-cyber crime legislation 
Justice integrated information and management system 
IT functions supporting efficient justice sector systems 
Improving the efficiency of whistleblowing mechanism 
Study on government websites/portals 
Anti-money laundering training 
Asset location and recovery system 

Growth and business environment 

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Implementing electricity balancing guideline 
Developing economic diplomacy 
Promotion of energy audits in SMEs 
Coastal management  and protection 
Improving inland navigation and traffic conditions in the port area 
Improving inland waterway transport 
Operationalisation of destination management organisations 
Reform of concessions through public-private partnerships 
Support for the reform of the creative industry sector 
State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) governance and performance  
Climate policy support for the administration 
Enhancing water supply and sanitation systems 
Feasiblity study on large cases unit (LCU) in the statistical system 
Building permits through building information modelling (BIM) 
SME support strategy post 2020 
Regulation of gambling 
A  comprehensive  system  to  provide for  the  digitalisation  and provision  of  electronic  services  to  the 
maritime industry 
Irish freight, transport and logistics industry 
Enhancing export credit 
Enforcment of competition law 
Regulatory policy review 
Strengthening  the  framework  for  foreign  direct  investment  and  export  and  innovation-driven 
cooperation  
Electricity and decarbonisation 
Forestry statistical data 
Transition out of coal in the Trencin region 
Investment evaluation team 
Supporting structural reform in the waste management sector  
Improving environmental inspection work 
Support for the implementation of the proactive investment attraction reform 
Building information modelling (BIM) in the public real estate sector  
Project pipeline development for the purposes of the investment plan for Europe 

Labour market, education, health and social services 

Support to the national authorities for generating diagnosis-related group (DRG) cost weights based on 
available data 
Implementation of the colorectal screening programmes 
Hospitals’ collaboration area 
Services for primary health care units 
Improving colorectal cancer screening 
Youth integration in the labour market 
Improving colorectal cancer screening 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Support for the development of the primary care system  
Developing an action plan and data collection methodology for the prevention of early school leaving  
Capacity building for management of projects to build three regional hospitals  
Recommendations  on  the  design  and  implementation  of  a  policy  framework  for  developing 
ambulatory surgery  
Integrated primary care  
Developing an education strategy 
Early identification of students at risk of early school leaving 
National Labour Inspectorate (INL) capacity building 
Disability assessment reform  
Reform of the pension system 
Reform of the medical assessment service  
Provision of integrated care services  
Supporting the improvement of quality in inclusive education  
Development of criterion referenced tests at primary and lower secondary levels of education 
Promoting quality assurance in vocational education and training (VET)  
National plan for adult literacy  
Support to improve the quality of dual vocational education and training (VET)  
Development of a support system for the implementation of the comprehensive curricular reform 
Quality  assessment  system  of  in-service  teacher  training  provided  by  education  and  teacher  training 
agency 
Reforming the network of teacher education institutions 
Promoting inclusive special education  
National plan for the integration of international protection holders 

Revenue administration and public financial management 

Reform of the e-commerce policy 
Budgetary system reform (BSR) 
Working visit on e-services 
Improving the quality of the state budget preparation process 
Support for improving the design of tax policies in the excise sector 
Municipal debt restructuring and asset management facility 
Enhancing tax-benefit microsimulation models of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) 
Budget planning and key performance indicators (KPIs) 
Monitoring and auditing the internet economy 
Stimulating the introducation of new technologies for tax administration 
Enabling framework for implementation of behavioural economics in debt collection 
IT capacity building regarding dealing with preparing implementation of EU General Data Protection 
Regulation  (GDPR),  security  issues  regarding  TA  information  system  and  IT  projects  quality 
assurance 
General law of customs & excise 
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) education 
Missing intra trader community training 
Implementation of corporate income tax (CIT) gap analysis  

42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Independent  Authority  of  Public  Revenue  (IAPR)  extension  of  International  Monetary  Fund  (IMF) 
support 
Behavioural approach analysis 
Transfer pricing specialised training 
Strengthening the administrative capacity of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration  regarding 
monitoring, analysis, investigation and auditing electronic commerce 
Strengthening the administration of large taxpayers from the perspective of increasing the efficiency 
and effectiveness of revenue collection process 
Spending review 
Financial management reform 
Technical assistance in the implementation of the mid-term tax strategy 
Measurement,  monitoring,  evaluation  and  compliance  risk  management  model  in  the  National 
Revenue Authority 
Development and organisation of awareness raising campaigns and similar measures to reduce shadow 
economy 
Introduction of spending reviews  
VAT carousel fraud implementation 
Implementation of integrated tax administration system 

Financial services and access to finance 

Pre  listing  support  programme  to  sustainably  increase  SMEs  access  to  capital  markets  financing  in 
alignment with the capital markets union (CMU) 
Dormant account resolution 
Financial  education:  analysis  for  a  web-based  interactive  intelligent  educational  platform  regarding 
consumer decision making and purchasing process 
SME equity support instrument 
Creation of pre-insolvency early warning mechanisms and solutions for out-of-court settlements 
Capital markets diagnostic 
National non-performing loans (NPL) strategy 
Designing Bank for Reconstruction and Development 's medium-term strategy 
Planning of internal operational processes and procedures specific to resolution authority 
Establishment of supervision of issuer's financial statements 
Establishment of FinTech supportive environment 
Management of financial instruments 
Bank supervision data management 
SME equity support instrument 
Central Securities Depository: development of an authorisation and supervisory handbook 
Implementation of Central Securities Depositories (CSD) legislation 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX II 
LIST OF SUPPORT MEASURES FUNDED BY THE VOLUNTARY TRANSFERS UNDER 
ARTICLE 11 

GREECE 

Supporting the establishment of the single social security agency (EFKA) 
Support for clean energy investments 
Roadmap for the systematisation of environmental legislation 
Enhancement of Greece’s emergency management system 
Supporting digital education 
Model collection office 
One stop shops 
Supporting the implementation of the action plan for tackling undeclared work  
Western Macedonia transition through coal platform initiative 
Waste management 
Reforming the design of active labour market policies  
Technical support on inter-municipal cooperation  
Accelerate the digital transformation 
Anti-corruption training programmes 
Strengthening of the capacity in implementing the deinstitutionalisation process 
Support to the Hellenic Development Bank  
Support for tendering of public-private partnerships 
Regional policy post 2020 
Modernisation of the cadastre system 
Compliance of IT systems belonging to the Special Secretariat for Private Debt Management 
Export promotion 
Support on judicial reforms  
Risk assessment tool for transfer pricing cases selection 
Investment licensing and inspections reform 
Support to the General Accounting Office to implement the new chart of accouints and enhance cash 
management functions 
Minimum wage setting 
Improving performance in doing business report 
Support  to  the  Hellenic  Civil  Aviation  Regulatory  Authority  (HCARA)  and  the  Hellenic  Civil 
Aviation Authority (HCAA) 
Post-investment licensing and inspections reform support 
Expansion of the ‘ePDE’ information system 
Coordinating, monitoring and assessment of public policies and structural reforms 

BULGARIA 
Improve the governance of state-owned enterprises 
Insolvency framework review and roadmap 
Reform of the order of payment proceeding 
Strengthening the administrative capacity of the NRA to monitor and control e-commerce 

44 

 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX III 

PROGRESS IN ACHIEVING SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME 

Support  measures  funded  under  the  SRSP  2018  are  expected  to  contribute  to  the  specific 
objectives of the programme in the following way45. 

a)  47% of support measures contribute to the design of reforms: 

Tax policy
Social policies
Trade
Bank supervision and resolution
Access to finance
Non-performing loans
Public procurement
Spending reviews
Small and medium-sized enterprise policy

Sectoral expertise (transport, logistics, tourism,…

Public accounting and fiscal statistics
Pension and disabilities
Management of human resources
Judicial reform
Investment management and PPPs
Healthcare system
Governance
Fiscal framework

Environment, circular economy, water, land registry and…

Energy
Education and training
Digital Public Administration
Digital economy
Climate
Central and local administration
Capital Markets Union

Better regulation, Sectoral expertise (transport, logistics,…

Anti-corruption / anti-money-laundering

1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 
1 
1 

1 
1 

2 

2 

3 

3 

3 
3 
3 

3 
3 

6 

7 
7 

4 

45 Each support measure can contribute to more than one specific objective.  

45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
 
b)  64% contribute to the formulation, development and implementation of reforms: 

12 

Tax policy
State-owned enterprise management
Spending reviews
Social policies
Small and medium-sized enterprise policy

Sectoral expertise (transport, logistics, tourism, agriculture,…

Public procurement
Pension and disabilities
Non-performing loans
Modelling, analysis and assessments
Migration and border management
Labour market policies, Social policies
Judicial reform
Investment management and PPPs
Insolvency
Healthcare system
Governance
Fiscal framework
Financial literacy

Environment, circular economy, water, land registry and…

Energy
Education and training
Digital Public Administration
Digital economy
Central and local administration
Capital Markets Union
Budgeting
Budget execution and cash management
Better regulation
Bank supervision and resolution
Anti-corruption / anti-money-laundering

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 
1 
1 
1 

3 
3 

3 

3 

3 

5 

4 

8 

9 

5 

6 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
c)  56% contribute to the definition and implementation of processes and methodologies: 

11 

Tax policy
State-owned enterprise management
Social policies
Small and medium-sized enterprise policy

Sectoral expertise (transport, logistics, tourism, agriculture,…

Public procurement
Pension and disabilities
Non-performing loans
Modelling, analysis and assessments
Migration and border management
Management of human resources
Management of EU funds
Labour market policies
Judicial reform
Investment management and PPPs
Insolvency
Healthcare system
Governance
Fiscal framework

Environment, circular economy, water, land registry and…

Energy
Education and training
Digital Public Administration
Digital economy
Climate
Central and local administration
Capital Markets Union
Budgeting
Budget execution and cash management
Better regulation
Bank supervision and resolution
Anti-corruption / anti-money-laundering
Access to finance

1 
1 
1 

1 

1 
1 
1 

1 
1 

1 
1 

1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

4 

4 

4 

2 

2 

2 
2 

2 

2 

3 

3 

3 
3 

7 

7 

6 

47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
d)  and  19%  aim  to  help  improve  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  human  resources 

management: 

Tax policy

State-owned enterprise management

Public procurement

Management of human resources

Judicial reform

Investment management and PPPs

Healthcare system

Governance

Environment, circular economy, water, land…

Digital Public Administration

Climate

Access to finance

3 

3 

3 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

48